Reexamination

Reexamination

Sometimes a patent is obvious but was granted. The USPTO grants many patents that are invalid, obvious or otherwise ridiculously funny.

For example, the USPTO granted a patent on swinging sideways on a swing to a 5 year old applicant. http://www.google.com/patents/US6368227

This seems somewhat obvious as swings are probably neolithic, and prior art such as Tarzan could teach such a technique. What if your competitor has a patent on swinging sideways? Should you and all other five-year-old children stop swinging sideways on the playground?

Fortunately, re-examination is available for anyone during the period of enforceability of the patent.
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2209.html

The USPTO fee for a streamlined ex parte reexamination request (40 pages or fewer) is currently $6,775, or $2,710 for small entities and $1,355 for micro entities; longer requests cost more. See the current USPTO fee schedule. (The $3,000 and $6,000 fees in the original 2020 article are out of date.) One benefit of the re-examination request is that it can be filed anonymously. Although, many five-year-old kids don't have $6,775 to file re-examination requests, if your factory is making products commercially, the cost is much lower than for federal court.